Combined latch and lock



P1?il 30, 1945 B. RQ THM-:LE 2,399,302

COMBINED LATCH AND LOCK Filed Febe 21, 1944 BYSQ, Q,

k// Afro/ENKH- Patented Apr. 30, 1946 ori-ics 2,399,302 'oor/reisen Laren AND Loon Berthold R. Thiele, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to E. R. Wagner Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application February 21, 1944, Serial No. 523,202

Claims. (Cl. Y0-70) This invention relates to an improved combined latch and lock of the character shown in my prior Patent 2,233,115, issued February 25,

1941, and one object of the invention is to improve and .simplify the construction shown in said patent and to render the same more rugged and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a slightly modified construction.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral Ita designates the body of a box and the numeral Ib the lid or cover thereof. The latch housing is shown generally at I l and comprises a base plate Ila. marginally flanged as at IIb and a cover llc which ts down over the ange of the base plate and is secured thereto in the manner described in my aforesaid patent or in any other convenient manner. The base plate may likewise be secured to the body of the boX in the manner described in my aforesaid patent or in any other convenient manner. generally at I'I is pivoted as at I9 upon the base plate I Ia within the housing and is provided with a latching or locking projection I3, The latch bolt is biased into latching position by means of a slidable combined spring and lock bolt 25 supported and fulcrumed intermediate its ends upon lug 33 struck up from the base plate I'Ia,sup ported and guided for slidable movement only adjacent one end 23 between similarly formed lugs 22 and normally free and in engagement with the latch bolt at its other end 28, The fulcrum lug 33 and the lug 22 opposed thereto are so organized and related with respect to the latch bolt when in latching position that it is necessary to flex the spring in order to position the same on the lugs with its free end in engagernent with the latch bolt as shown in the drawing. A locking projection 27 is formed in the spring adjacent the fulcrum lug 33 and inter- The latch bolt designated? mediate such projection and the guided portion 23 of the spring, the spring is provided with a V-shaped portion 26 designed to coact with a key BI which may be inserted through a keyhole Sla provided in the cover of the casing and also interengaged with an opening Hd formed in the base plate of the casing to center and support the rear end of the key. A lug or stud Mi is struck up from the base plate I la just in advance of the dfree end of the spring 25 when inthe full line po,- sition shown in the drawing. When the combined spring and bolt 25 is in its retracted position as shown in full lines in the drawing, the free end 28 of the spring simply serves as a spring to retain the latch in latching position. Tolock the latch the key is inserted in the keyhole Sla and rotated clockwise in the construction shown in Fig. 2, or counter-clockwise in the construction shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the bit of the key engages one wall of the V-shaped portion 25 formed in the spring and will force the spring toward the right in Fig. 2, or upwardly in Fig.l 3, the locking projection 2l riding over the lug 33 and through its resiliency snapping into position on the oppositel sideof the lug and retaining the spring in its shifted position until it is again operated byrotation of the key. 'By this shifting of the spring 25 to the. dotted line position, the free end 28 thereof is projected over the edge of the lug 46, thus blocking unlatching movement of the latch bolt and locking the bolt in latching position, Unlocking of the latch is eifected by a reverse rotation of the key which shifts the spring to the left in the construction of Fig. 2, or downwardly in the construction of Fig. 3, retracting the free end thereof to the full line position leaving the latch free vfor, normal latching operation.

The lid of the box is provided with a part cooper-able with the combined latch and lock comprising a sheet metal stamping 6 suitably secured to the lid by fastening means 'I or the like and provided with a hook 8 adapted to enter a slot Ile provided in the upper part of ange IIb of the latch housing and interengage with the latch projection I8 of the latching bolt I'I. The hook il and latching projection I8 are shaped and dimensioned as shown in the drawing so as tobe 1 self-latching when the lid of the box is closed.

If desired, the guided portion 23 of the spring shown in Fig. 2 may be extended as shown in dotted lines at 2l so as to underlie the hook 8 and thus `serve to cushion the latter in its latching engagement with projection I8 and to liftl the lid of the box upon disengagement of the latch- The spring shown at 2 Ia in Fig. 3 serves the same function and purpose. In this case, however, the spring 2Ia is a separate element held in proper position within the housing by means of a clip 48 struck up from the marginal iiange l Ib of the base plate Ha. For convenience in unlatching the latch when the spring 25 is retracted from locking position, the latch bolt may be provided with a stud 4| projected through a slot 42 in the cover of the housing and providing a finger grip by which the latch bolt may be moved to unlatched position against the tension of the free end of the spring, In lieu of a finger grip exposed on the face of the housing in this manner, the manual release may take the form oi a lateral projection extending through a slot in and eX- posed exteriorly of one of the lateral walls of the housing as shown in dotted lines at 44.

The construction and operation of the combined latch and lock shown in Fig. 3 is substantially the same as that shownV in Fig. 2 and for convenience the same reference numerals have been applied. The chief difference between the constructions of Figs. 2 and 3, apart from the lid-lifting spring arrangement, resides in the dimensioning of the housing, the housing of Fig. 2 being of major transverse extent, while that of Fig. 3 is of major vertical extent requiring a slight rearrangement of the parts, The principle of operation in each, however, is the same A further distinction as between the two constructions resides in the shape of the latch bolt. In Fig. 2

the latching Vprojection and the means for manual unlatching are mounted on the same side of the pivot I9, whereas in` Fig. 3 the latch bolt is more of the order of a bell crank with the latchng projection on one side of the pivot and the manual operating means on the other. It will be obvious that either type of 'latch bolt may be used in either construction.

If desired, a lug. 32, struck up from the base plate or otherwise formed, may be employed and positioned yto coact with the nose of the V-shaped portion 2B of the spring 25 to assist in guiding the action of the spring vin its locking and latching positions` and during shiftingifrom one position to the other.

While I have shown and described two constructions in which` the invention may be advantageously embodied, itis to beunderstood that the constructions shown have been selected merely for purpose of illustration and that various changes in the size, shapex and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1, A combined latch and lock comprising a asoasoa casing, a latching bolt mounted therein, a bodily shiitable spring mounted in said casing and free to flex at one end and held against exure at the other and engaged at its free end with said bolt to bias the same into latching position, a stud in said casing adjacent the free end of said spring, and key coacting means for shifting said spring to position the free end thereof between said stud and bolt to block the latter against unlatching movement.

2. A combined latch and lock comprising a casing, a latch bolt mounted therein, a bodily shiftable spring mounted in said casing and supported at one end and intermediate its ends for sliding movement and being unsupported and free to flex at its other end and engaged at such end with said bolt to bias the same into latching position, a stud in said casing adjacent the free end of said spring, said spring intermediate its points of support being formed for coaction with the key for shifting said spring to position the free end thereof between said stud and bolt to block unlatching movement of the latter,

3. In a combined latch and lock, a casing, a latch bolt mounted therein, a bodily shiftable spring, a plurality of supports therefor including a fulcrum intermediate the ends of the spring, a guide at one end of the spring and a stud at the other, the spring at the latter end engaging the bolt and being free to iiex to permit unlatching movement of the bolt, the spring having a portion intermediate the fulcrum and the guide to cooperate with a key to shift the spring to a position between the stud and the bolt to prevent iiexure of the spring and thereby lock the bolt against unlatching movement.

4. In a combined latch and lock, a casing, a latching bolt mounted therein, a guide and a fulcrum support in said casing, a spring engaging against said guide at one end and against said bolt at its other end and against said support intermediate its ends in such wise that the same is under tension in all positions of said'bolt, a locking stud adjacent the bolt engaging end of said spring, and key coacting means for bodily shifting the spring to pass the latter end thereof between the stud and bolt to lock the bolt.

5. In a combined latch and lock, a casing, a latch bolt therein, a guide and a fulcrum in said casing, a spring engaging against said guide at one end and tensioned over said fulcrum intermediate its ends and engaged against said bolt at its other end, a block normally beyond the latter end of said spring, and means for shifting said spring to project said end between said block and bolt to lock the latter.

BERTHOLD R. THIELE. 

